This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
As the desire for amenities to be provided in kitchens grows, there are increased demands for electrical and/or electronic products that are installed beneath the kitchen sink. Often there is only one electrical circuit under the sink and the electrical demands of devices such as a water chiller, hot water dispenser and food waster disposer can outstrip the capacity of the electrical circuit. This can result in limiting the number of electrical/electronic devices that are installed under the sink or the installation (if possible) of additional electrical circuits under the sink which requires that additional electrical power lines be run under the sink.
A device such as the SinkTop Switch™ air switch module available from the InSinkErator division (Racine, Wis.) of Emerson Electric Co. has a single electrical circuit with two outlets and allows for a food waste disposer and one other device such as a chiller or hot water dispenser to be powered by the single electrical circuit. When used with a food waste disposer and a hot water dispenser or water chiller, the food waste disposer is plugged into one of the outlets and the other device (hot water dispenser or water chiller) is plugged into the other device. The air switch module has an air activated micro switch that switches power from one of the outlets to the other outlet each time an activator of the micro switch is pressed. Typically, the hot water dispenser or water chiller is powered and the user presses the activator to turn power on to the food waste disposer, which turns power off to the hot water dispenser or water chiller, and then presses it again to turn power off to the food waste disposer which turns power back on to the hot water dispenser or water chiller. Such an air switch module has the limitations that is only one device in addition to the food waste disposer can be added and it is not smart.
In a typical hot water dispensing system, the valve that controls the flow of water tends to be located in a faucet of the hot water dispensing system. As such, designers must find existing valves and incorporate them into the design of the faucet or design a new valve. This makes the faucet more expensive and limits the flexibility of design of the faucet. This results in increased inventory carrying costs since faucets having multiple finishes and multiple designs must be stocked. It also results in increased time to market with new faucet designs due to increased design and approval complexity. Locating the valve away from the faucet requires that the valve be electrically or electronically controlled, such as a solenoid valve, and an electrical or electronic controller added to the system, resulting in increased system cost.
Lower cost water dispensing systems typically have simple electromechanical thermostats to control the temperature of the water. As such, these systems are not programmable and have a set, constant water temperature. This can result in wasted energy due to the water being heated or cooled when there is no demand, such as late at night or early morning. Also, tight temperature control is difficult with these types of simply thermostats so the temperature of the water cannot always be maintained at optimal temperature.
There have been a number of prior art food waste disposers having a controller that is configured to control the food waste disposer in ways that improve its performance. The controller can for example control the speed of the motor of the food waste disposer and water flow, such as to adjust motor speed and water flow to optimize grind and control water. However, most food waste disposers are operated with a wall or air switch that doesn't include any type of controller that can be used to control motor speed, such as for improved grind performance, water flow, diagnose issues, communicate those issues to a user, and the like. Adding a separate controller to a food waste disposer solely to add this type of functionality increases the cost of the food waste disposer beyond what many consumers are typically willing to pay, which has typically been the experience with smart food waste disposers that have been on the market. The same can be said for water dispensing systems. While it would be desirable to have a controller that for example senses and communicates water temperature, filter life or leak detection, such as to a user, many consumers are not willing to pay the increased cost for such a controller.
When a new electrical or electronic device is added under the sink, this device typically must have its own controls, for example, a thermostat for a hot water dispenser or chiller, a motor controller for a disposer (which in many cases is simply an on-off switch), etc. There is of course a cost associated with the controls of each such device.
In many cases, users rarely go under the kitchen sink except for the occasional cleaning supplies. Small water leaks under the sink can thus go undetected and may cause significant damage. Simple leak detection devices are available and they require the user to interact to shut off the source of the leak. Other more complicated leak detection is available that will shut off the water supply but usually these monitor flow and require a catastrophic leak before they operate.